21 January 2011: The UNCSD Secretariat has posted the advance, unedited version of the revised “Synthesis Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learned on the Objective and Themes of the Conference” (document A/CONF.216/PC/8). The revised report is submitted to the second meeting of the UNCSD Preparatory Committee (PrepCom II), which will take place from 7-8 March 2011, in New York, US.

A preliminary version of the report (A/CONF.216/PC/3) was issued for the first Intersessional Meeting of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20), held from 10-11 January 2011. The Secretariat has accepted additional input from UN member States and other stakeholders for the revised document, with the additional input submitted in the form of responses to a questionnaire regarding the three objectives and two themes of UNCSD.

The revised report reflects a total of 108 responses to the questionnaire. According to the Secretariat, 49 responses came from governments (24 from developed countries including a comprehensive submission from the EU, and 25 from developing countries or countries with economies in transition), 32 came from Major Groups’ organizations or consolidated networks, and 27 from UN system organizations.

The report contains three chapters summarizing the responses to each of the Conference’s objectives, including sections on experiences, success factors and challenges, and two chapters summarizing the responses to each of the Conference’s themes, including sections on experiences, success factors, challenges and risks. The report concludes with a chapter on “the way forward,” which notes areas of convergence among respondents’ suggestions and recommendations, as well as areas of difference where more discussion will be needed. [Publication: Synthesis Report on Best Practices and Lessons Learned on the Objective and Themes of the Conference] [Related Documents]